A woman died Friday afternoon while hiking with her dogs on the Romero Canyon Trail after calling 9-1-1 to report chest pains, according to the Montecito Fire Protection District. She’s been identified as 36-year-old Nicole Ruth Peters, an avid spearfisher and director of brand operations for Deckers Outdoor Corporation in Goleta.
At approximately 12:53 p.m., MFPD firemen responded to a 9-1-1 call from a cell phone traced by dispatch GPS to two miles from the top of the Romero Canyon Trail off East Camino Cielo. In addition to the ground crews, county officials dispatched a helicopter to help find the patient, who reported chest pain.
However, the patient had passed away by the time paramedics from the helicopter team reached her, at approximately 2:14 p.m. Paramedics airlifted the patient’s body, and ground crews hiked out with the woman’s three dogs, who were then turned over to Animal Control.